1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a position adjusting mechanism for adjusting mutual positions of rollers and an opposed member which is opposed to the rollers, a process cartridge provided with the position adjusting mechanism, and an image forming apparatus provided with the process cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
A mechanism including a process unit described hereinbelow by which downsizing of the whole process unit and reduction in weight thereof can be realized is known. The process unit is for an image forming apparatus wherein a photoreceptor unit and a development unit are supported by supporting shafts in a swingable manner, and they are mounted detachably on a machine housing. An axis of a development roller provided on the development unit is inclined towards an inverse direction to that of flexure of the supporting shaft with respect to an axis of a photoreceptor drum provided on the photoreceptor unit in response to an amount of flexure of the supporting shaft derived from a driving torque acting on an input gear provided on the development unit from a drive gear provided on the machine housing, so that a degree of parallelization between the development roller and the photoreceptor drum is maintained at the time of image formation wherein the driving torque is transmitted to the input gear from the drive gear. As described above, a degree of parallelization between the development roller and the photoreceptor drum can be maintained without increasing rigidity of the supporting shaft. As a result, there is no need to use a supporting shaft having a large diameter in order to maintain rigidity, whereby downsizing and decrease in weight of the whole process unit can be realized (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-187005).
In a conventional mechanism, however, there is a problem in that it is difficult to stably maintain deviance between a development roller and a photoreceptor drum within a predetermined range with respect to dispersion of a driving torque. In addition, there is also a problem in that a conventional mechanism cannot cope with demands for increase in a volume of a toner containment part and simplification of a holding section with respect to a process cartridge provided in an image forming apparatus.